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During the next year we're expecting to see the Light Flyweight division become the “must watch” weight class. Given that it's often been an over-looked weight class we're really hoping that 2016 can be a year where fans do get excited and do start to give the division the attention that it deserves, and of course we also hope to see some great match ups. Ahead of any major announcements we've thought of 5 fights that we want to see this coming year in what is the second part of out "Bouts we want..." series, following on from the Minimumweight version here.

Ryoichi Taguchi Vs Randy PetalcorinOn paper the most logical match up sees WBA “regular” champion Ryoichi Taguchi (23-2-1, 10) defending his belt against interim champion Randy Petalcorin (23-1-1, 18). The bout is a really straight forward to make one with the two men having a real reason to fight and in theory both would have a lot to gain from a win and both would likely view the bout as one they should be really considering for the coming year, making it probably the most likely to happen, especially given that neither man can afford another year without facing a major opponent, which both men had last yesar unfortunately.

Not only is this one a good on one in regards to clearing up the WBA title picture but it's also one that should be great in the ring. Taguchi is a criminally under-rated boxer, with a very solid skill set, genuine toughness and developing confidence whilst Petalcorin is a powerful, fast and accurate fighter who needs to prove that he really is world class. The styles should be fun to see together and the chance to score a statement win should bring the best from both, making this a real humdinger.

Donnie Nietes Vs Rey LoretoWhilst the Taguchi/Petalcorion fight makes a lot of sense for both men sometimes fights don't need to make “sense” for us to to want them. One such example is an all-Filipino bout between WBO kingpin Donnie Nietes (37-1-4, 21) and hard hitting countryman Rey Loreto (20-13, 12). On paper this is a major mismatch, however as we all know Loreto is the division's dangerman and is criminally under-rated.

Nietes is the longest reigning active champion in the division however the 33 year old has had a long and draining career and has shown some chinks during his 4 year reign. Loreto on the other hand is just coming into his prime, at 25, and has really improved since a less than stellar 0-4 start to his professional career. With wins over Wisanu Kokietgym, Pornsawan Porpramook and Nkosinathi Joyi Loreto is dangerous and could well upset Nietes in what would be a brilliant boxer Vs puncher match up.

Sadly however it seems unlikely we'll get this one given that Nietes has been ordered to face Moises Fuentes and then seems likely to move to the Flyweight division.

Akira Yaegashi Vs Ryo MiyazakiThe best fights are the ones where styles gel, and one such bout has been mooted for several years and appears to have taken a huge step towards reality in recent weeks. That bout would put the newly crowned IBF champion Akira Yaegashi (23-5, 12) against fellow action fighter Ryo Miyazaki (24-1-3, 15). Whilst there are “better” bouts in the sport, such as Naoya Inoue Vs Roman Gonzalez, we don't think any other bout has “sure fire excitement” written over it as much as this one.

​Yaegashi looked sensational winning the IBF crown late last year, with a win over Javier Mendoza, but still can't refrain himself from brawling whilst Miyazaki is, at heart, a brawler. Given that both men like a fight, both have lapses defensively and both like to let their hands go we really can't see any outcome other than a win for the fans, if this one is made. Interestingly it is being spoken about as potential match up for March and Miyazaki has publicly called out his fellow Japanese warrior. Fingers crossed!

Jonathan Taconing Vs Felix Alvarado​Over the last few year's we've been hoping to see Jonathan Taconing (22-2-1, 18) get a world title fight, sadly however he has been avoided like the plague. It'd be nice to see him finally getting a shot at a champion but if that doesn't happen we'd love to see him face Nicaraguan warrior Felix Alvarado (22-2, 19). The two men should again make for a stylistically fun fight and it should be a bit of a fire fight, despite the fact neither has been stopped.

With 37 stoppage wins between them, from 47 bouts, we know power shots would be the order of the day and neither would be thinking about hearing the final bell. We also know that both feel thy been controversially beaten and and we don't see either man fighting for a decision. This really could be something very special to watch and, like the Yaegashi/Miyazaki bout, has “sure fire excitement” written all over it.

Whilst the bout should be great it should also act as a very serious world title eliminator with the winner well deserving of a world title fight later in the year.

Yu Kimura Vs Ken ShiroThere are a number of other bouts at 108lbs that could be made over the next 12 months though arguably the one that most interests us would see one of our favour fighters Ken Shiro (6-0, 3) step up to face recently crowned WBC champion Yu Kimura (18-2-1, 3). The bout would be one filled with skills and speed and, on paper at least, the easiest root for Ken Shiro to claim a world title, though of course wouldn't be a gimme for the youngster.

The biggest issue with this bout is that Kimura will likely need to fight in a mandatory defense, probably against Taconing, however if he can avoid that, or delay it, then we could be in for a really cracking all-Japanese world title fight between a veteran and a real youngster looking to break through. Really intriguing even if the bout doesn't really scream major “excitement”.

Whilst we have mentioned 5 bouts here, there are of course numerous other bouts, such ones featuring Kosei Tanaka, would also be also be entertaining and the division really does look amazing at the moment and we really are hoping that it can deliver on the promise that it has.

Following a somewhat quiet but interesting January we moved on to a more action pack February which featured several notable upsets, the return to the ring of one of the sports most popular fighters and some massive knockouts. For those who haven't forgotten what happened here is our review of the month.

The action kicked off on February 1st in what was a genuinely major day of action with notable shows in both Japan and Monaco, yes Monaco.

In Japan fans saw Yu Kimura become the new Japanese Light Flyweight as he narrowly defeated Kenichi Horikawa with a split decision. The title, which had been vacant, was the second Japanese national to find a new owner in 2014, following Go Odaira's victory in a Minimumweight title fight in January. Since this bout Horikawa has scored back-to-back wins, though both were majority decisions, Kimura has also managed 2 wins as he's defended the belt twice and is now expected to turn his attention to a world title.

In Monaco we saw the first bout of the year involving the always fun to watch Gennady Golovkin who beat up and eventually stopped Osumanu Adama to retain his WBA Middleweight title. Golovkin was fighting in Monaco for the second time and although he wasn't mega impressive the bout did two things. It allowed the Kazakh to remain active and it also showed that the US fans were wanting to see him with a near riot on twitter after this bout wasn't shown State side. On the same show fans also saw unheralded FilipinoRey Loreto iced South African Nkosinathi Joyi in a major upset. The win put Loreto on the boxing map for many though was really a continuation of his win in late 2013 against Pornsawan Porpramook. Loreto will rematch Joyi later this month, in South Africa, and if he can repeat the feat we suspect he'll find himself in a world title fight next year.

On February 2nd we saw Filipino prospect Johnreil Maligro score his first win of the year as he stopped Dondon Lapuz inside a round, since this win Maligro has gone on to score 2 big wins in Japan and the rise of the 20 year old hopeful really has been an astonishing one, even if he is still under-the-radar.

The same card in Korea also saw Ye-Joon Kim record an 8th round victory over Jong-Min Jung whilst Ja-Ik Goo defeated Taek-Min Kim. At the time Goo looked like the best prospect in Korean boxing though has vanished from the Korean boxing scene since this win whilst Kim has become the new face of Korean boxing and appears to be the one shining light in Korean boxing.

On February 10th we saw the months sole OPBF title fight as Shingo Wake defended the OPBF Super Bantamweight title against the thoroughly out classed and out sized Jovylito Aligarbes in what amounted to little more than a stay busy defence for the talented Wake. The more notable bout on this card was actually a Japanese title fight as the talented Rikki Naito claimed the Japanese Super Featherweight title with a sensational win over Hiroyasu Matsuzaki. Since these bouts Wake has recorded one further defenses whilst Naito has defended his belt twice.

Although the month started amazingly it did slow down and it wasn't until February 22nd that we had something else to really get excited about as Top Rank returned to Macau for the first show in the country for the year. The card featured 3 Olympic champions in the form of Ryota Murata, Egor Mekhontsev and Zou Shiming, who scored his first career stoppage. Although the show was sold on the 3 Olympians they didn't actually feature in any of the highlights that came on the show.

The big highlight was an 8 round war between Rex Tso and Mako Matsuyama in what was a much tougher fight for Rex than it should have been. The bout, from the opening round to the 8th, was a real war which you couldn't take your eyes off despite it being relatively one sided with Tso battering the gutsy and brave Matsuyama who showed incredible heart until eventually running out of steam and being stopped.

Although the bout between Tso and Matsuyama was brilliant it was over-shadowed in some ways by a KO of the Year contender as Filipino puncher Marvin Sonsona almost beheaded former world champion Akifumi Shimoda. Sonsona had made a very slow start to the bout but showed off his speed, skill and power as he landed a gorgeous short left uppercut that dropped Shimoda hard. The Japanese fighter was out cold when he got caught and stayed down whilst Sonsona celebrated one of the most outstanding KO's of the year.